Showing 1 - 10 of 52
The real problem with free trade
News, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 14/09/2018
» For most critics of globalisation, trade is the villain, responsible for deepening inequality and rising economic insecurity among workers. This is the logic driving support for US President Donald Trump's escalating tariffs. Why, then, does the message resonate far beyond the United States, and even the advanced economies, to include workers in many of the developing countries that are typically portrayed as globalisation's main beneficiaries?
Asia's affair with autocratic rulers
News, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 11/10/2018
» US President Donald Trump grabs the most headlines, but the cult of the strongman leader is most developed in Asia. The continent abounds with rulers -- including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the strongest of them all, Chinese President Xi Jinping -- who make a virtue of centralising power.
Who should control India's central bank?
Asia focus, Jayati Ghosh in New Delhi, Published on 19/11/2018
» The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is locked in a bitter public feud with the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Modi's attempts to encroach on the central bank's independence. In fact, the government's actions are a serious problem, but not for the reason many people seem to think.
Inequality and the exploitation time bomb
Asia focus, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 26/08/2019
» Ever since reducing inequality became an official goal of the international community, income disparities have widened. This trend, typically blamed on trade liberalisation and technological advances that have weakened the bargaining power of labour relative to capital, has generated a political backlash in many countries, with voters blaming their economic plight on "others" rather than on national policies. Such sentiments of course merely aggravate social tensions without addressing the root causes of worsening inequality.
The biometric threat
Asia focus, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 02/03/2020
» Around the world, governments are succumbing to the allure of biometric identification systems. To some extent, this may be inevitable, given the burden of demands and expectations placed on modern states. But no one should underestimate the risks these technologies pose.
Seizure of Yes Bank sends shockwaves
Business, Suvashree Ghosh & Siddhartha Singh, Published on 07/03/2020
» India's attempt to buttress its financial system by taking control of the country's fourth-largest private lender has instead triggered widespread confusion and signs of investor panic, adding a fresh layer of risk to an economy that's already headed for its weakest expansion in more than a decade.
The Covid-19 debt deluge
Asia focus, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 06/04/2020
» Pandemics like Covid-19, alarming and destructive as they are, can serve a useful purpose if they remind everyone of the critical importance of public health. When a contagious disease strikes, even a society's most protected elites must worry about the health of neglected populations.
Farmers vs the Indian state
Asia focus, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 21/12/2020
» India's capital is under siege from more than 2 million farmers, who are currently gathered at the city's border in a massive protest that started three weeks ago. Old and young men, women, and even children from farming families are camping on open roads in the bitter cold of a Delhi winter. They have abandoned their concerns about viral infection and come prepared for the long haul, bringing enough food to last for several months.
The rich world's climate hypocrisy
Oped, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 17/11/2021
» Many people around the world already consider the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow a disappointment. That is a massive understatement. Global leaders -- especially in the developed world -- although they acknowledge its severity and urgency, they mostly pursue short-term national interests and make conveniently distant "net-zero" emission pledges without clear and immediate commitments to act.
The peril of food-price inflation
Oped, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 19/01/2022
» The question of how best to control inflation is back on the economic policy agenda, and opinion is divided about how to address it. The mainstream view emphasises the need for tighter monetary policies and regards higher interest rates and reduced liquidity provision as justified, even if they dampen the fragile economic recovery now underway in many countries. Others argue that today's inflation is transitory, reflecting temporary supply bottlenecks and labour-market shifts, and will soon correct itself.